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“Then it’s past time you do,” Natasha says with a wink.

“Come on, everyone,” Mildred says from the doorway. “Dinner is ready. But save room for dessert. I made lemon meringue cheesecake, and I found a delightful ice wine in the cellar to pair with it.”

“We have a wine cellar?” I ask Carson, who just smirks.

“Oh, Mildred,” Lulu says, “you and I need to exchange some recipes.”

“I’m always up for that,” Mildred says with a wink. “Come on, you don’t want it to get cold.”

Twenty-One

RINA

I’m pleasantly exhausted.

Rome and Lulu just left with the baby. The number twos left a few hours ago to get back to work.

Julian and Mateo are playing with Carson and Charlie in the playroom.

Violet and Natasha are chatting by the pool, and I take a moment to go inside to see if Mildred needs any help cleaning up.

But when I get to the kitchen, I see that everything is already spotless, and my friend is nowhere to be found.

I wish I could have afforded to hire her as my full-time house manager slash nanny years ago.

I hear the door and turn to see Rose walking toward me.

“Hey, you. Let’s sit and chat for a few, if you’re up for it,” I say, gesturing to the stools at the island.

“I’d like that,” Rose says, taking a seat.

“Would you like some tea? Water? Anything?”

“Just water would be nice,” she replies, and I grab us each a bottle from the beverage fridge, pass her one, and stand on the other side of the island so I can see her face. I need to stretch my leg just a bit.

“How long were you with him?” I ask her quietly and watch as she turns her eyes down to the water bracketed in her hands.

“Until a couple of months ago,” she says quietly, and I inhale sharply through my nose as pure anguish rolls through me.

“Oh, Rose.”

She nods and swallows a sip of water. “I was lucky, though. Really. So many of the girls . . . horrible things happened to them, you know? Rape and . . . well. Horrible things.”

She bites her lip and peels the label off the bottle.

“He seemed to like me the best and decided that he’d keep me for himself. Took me everywhere with him. But I always had my own room.”

Her eyes meet mine.

“I’m still a virgin.”

I blink rapidly, sure I’ve heard her wrong. “What?”

“It’s true. He couldn’t get it up, so he couldn’t rape me. And it would piss him off so badly that he did hit me. Often.”

I’m shaking my head, relieved and disgusted all at the same time.

“He liked to show me off,” she continues. “And I think he enjoyed keeping one of us as a prize, you know? He’s a twisted fuck. Anyway, my sister moved to Vegas to find me, and she met Mateo. They worked together, and here I am.”